


The Bridge is Love

by Mira



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-11-24
Updated: 2007-11-24
Packaged: 2017-10-15 14:50:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/161905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mira/pseuds/Mira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So this is murder," John said.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bridge is Love

**Author's Note:**

> Investigation of a child murderer with graphic descriptions.

Staff Sergeant Stevie Radvanske found her on a routine patrol of the perimeter of the City. Corporal Alonso Ngo was several paces behind him, reminiscing about the _com tam_ his mother made when he was a little boy. "Peasant food," he was saying when he nearly ran into Stevie. "Oh, shit," Alonso said, and turned away.

Stevie breathed slowly, trying to calm his racing heart. He recognized her, of course; the City was big, but not that big, and everyone knew all the children living in Atlantis. He swallowed the gush of saliva and activated his radio. "Captain Cisneros," he said, and cleared his throat. "Ed, I think you better get down here."

"Shit," Alonso said again. "It's Zamanzah, isn't it."

"I think so," Stevie said, and knelt next to the little body.

Alonso took a deep breath and crouched next to Stevie. "How -- what happened to her?"

Stevie silently pointed at the glossy dark of dried blood they'd been careful not to tread in. "Not anything good," he finally said.

~ ~ ~

Caroline Biro's eyelids were red and a little puffy, John thought, carefully not looking at her across the conference table from him. He and Evan had spoken with Stevie, Alonso, and Ed, leading them away from the little girl to give Caroline room, and then he'd gone to Teyla and with her to Zamanzah's family to tell them the untellable.

John took a sudden breath, remembering the look on Zamanzah's father's face, the sound her mother had made, the shrill questions her little sister had kept asking until her aunt scooped her up and took her away. He would never forget Teyla's face when they refused her comfort and stumblingly followed Evan down the long corridor now filled with silent people staring aghast.

At the head of the long table they used for staff meetings, he felt the gaze of the others on him. At last, he looked up, rubbing his chin, and said, "What do we know?"

Caroline said, "Zamanzah died approximately six hours ago. She had been strangled, then sodomized, and finally the multiple cuts inflicted."

"Jesus," Evan said quietly.

"How long," John asked, hesitating, "how long did it take?"

"For her to die? Not long. I suppose that was a mercy." Caroline's sweet face was stern. "All her wounds are consistent with post-mortem delivery."

"So this is murder," John said.

Caroline nodded. "Murder, and from the state of the body, I'm afraid the murderer will act again. I was a Medical Examiner in Boulder years ago, and saw a few things like this." She took a sip of water. "I'm sorry to say," she added.

"Thank you," John said. "We need to know who Zamanzah's friends were, why she was in that corridor, where was she supposed to be." He turned to Teyla, who nodded.

"I will ask my cousin Keras to assist," Teyla said. "He is friends with Zamanzah's older brother, Leyd. John, who will be leading the investigation?"

John looked at Evan. "I will," John said. "This is the first crime of this sort on Atlantis. I want it resolved quickly."

Evan nodded. "Doctor Biro has already advised us about collecting trace evidence from the scene. I've had it cordoned off and guards posted."

"Good work," Teyla said. "Please report back to by the end of the day what progress you've made." She rose, collecting her tablet. "Thank you. I need to return to her family." Everyone else stood, too, shuffling in awkward discomfort, John thought. Teyla caught his eye as she left, and he nodded at her. Of course he'd do everything he could to solve this quickly.

Evan came up to him. "Do you have time to meet, go over notes?"

John recognized a rhetorical question when he heard one and sat back down, Evan next to him. "What have you got?"

"Caroline's running blood and semen tests, but they'll take some time, even using the Ancient's technology." He ducked his head and spoke more softly. "But we're looking for someone who fucks dead little girls, John. The psych evals should have caught something like that."

John also spoke softly. "The psych evals were done years ago, and Kate is gone. And how accurate are they, anyway? Remember that astronaut in diapers? How many psych evals did she have to go through?" Evan just looked at him. "Go through the records. Keep it as confidential as you can, but do what you have to. What else?"

"Doctor Zelenka has rigged up some device to pick up microscopic trace evidence. Turns out his uncle was a detective in Prague ages ago. He's looking for hair, clothing fibers, blood spatter, fingerprints, anything. And he wants Rich to help him."

"Rich? What is he, an archaeologist? How can he help?"

"Something about the context of the site," Evan said, gesturing vaguely. "I didn't think that would be a problem, so I told him to go ahead --"

"No, it's fine. You've made a list of everyone in the area?"

"Only of our people. I didn't want to start questioning the Athosians; they were too upset."

"Keras will help with that. But you can start reviewing the psych evals of the people you do know of."

"What are you going to do?"

"First? Go back to the site, make sure it's being recorded thoroughly. Meet with the family again to officially express our sympathies. Look around."

"Shit," Evan said, and John agreed.

He first swung by the labs, hoping to catch Rodney, but he was deep in a meeting, barely acknowledging John's presence. John recognized the youngsters around him as newly arrived; they looked rattled and very intent. Radek was working by himself, so John approached him. "I know," Radek said. "I am hurrying."

"I don't mean to rush you, Doc," John said. "Just want to know if there's anything we can do to help."

"Keep people away from the, the crime scene." Radek swallowed hard. "I want to go over it again."

"Yeah. Uh, Evan said your uncle was a detective?"

"Homicide investigator. But he didn't bring his work home; I know only a little bit."

"That's okay. Just, it's good to know you're working on this."

Radek looked up from his laptop, his glasses smudged and his eyes wide and bleary behind them. He rubbed his forehead. "Terrible, terrible thing, John," he said. "I can't imagine it happening here. It shouldn't happen here."

John agreed with him, but said nothing, just gripped Radek's elbow briefly. "When do you want to go back?"

"Are you going now? Then I will go with you." He packed up a device John didn't recognize into a laptop case. "This is a kind of vacuum," he explained as he bent over it. "Also, bring that light. We will try something."

John glanced back at Rodney as they left; Rodney was watching them, his face unusually still. He lifted his chin in silent greeting and then turned back to the students.

"Rodney is a good teacher," Radek said as they walked to the transporter. "Don't tell him I said that."

"God, no," John agreed, and then they were there.

Evan was already on site, talking to Radvanske, who was one of the guards. Yellow tape had been strung across the corridor on two sides; on the far side Teyla's cousin Keras stood with another Athosian, Hela, a tall man with a stern face. They both watched John and Radek as they approached. John nodded to them, and then to Evan.

"Radek needs to work here," John told them quietly. He crossed his arms and watched as Radek ducked beneath the tape barrier and knelt on the floor, studying it. The floor was still stained with the little girl's blood; Radek would decide when it was appropriate to remove it. But the sight made John shiver, remembering other bloody floors.

"John?" Radek called. "The light? Shine it here." He gestured to the smudged line where the blood thinned and the floor was visible. John knelt and carefully aimed the awkward device; it rapidly grew warm in his hands. "There," Radek murmured. "Just there."

"What is it?" John found he was almost whispering. Evan crouched next to him, silent, his face drawn into a frown.

"A hand print. Very clear. And another." To John's surprise, Radek sprinkled something over the floor. "Hold the light closer. Much closer." John leaned forward, trying not to overbalance and fall into the blood. As they watched, whatever Radek had sprinkled on the floor began to turn a gentle brown, and suddenly John could see the hand prints.

"Shit," Evan muttered.

"Yes, yes," Radek said. He looked up at them. "We find this person, then I think we find the murderer."

John sank back, letting his arms relax, and flicked off the light. The hand prints remained visible. No one spoke for a while, and John knew they were all thinking the same thing: who had done this? Because they knew everyone. They knew a murderer, someone who would sodomize a little girl, a little girl they all had known since the day she was born right here in Atlantis. John's head ached trying to reconcile that with what he knew of the people who lived here.

"No chance someone came in from the outside?" Evan asked him _sotto voce_. "That last big holiday?"

"And what, hid until today?" They looked at each other for a moment. "We need to get started."

"Military first," Evan said. "We have their fingerprints on file so they'll be easier, there're fewer of them, and it'll let people see we're serious about finding the fucker."

John nodded. "Good," he said, and slowly rose, as did the others. He handed the light to Evan. "You stay with Radek. I'm going to let Teyla know."

"Should we let others know?" Radek asked, raising an eyebrow. John and Evan paused, thinking. "To frighten him. The _zmrd_ who did this."

"No," John said. "No. I don't want anyone to know." He looked into the eyes of each of the guards around him, including Keras and Hela. "Not one word," he said, and they straightened abruptly. Everyone nodded. He glanced back at Evan, and then strode off, wondering how long he could keep this discovery quiet.

Not long at all, he discovered when he found Rodney in the lab. "Heard it's just a matter of time," he said, not looking up from the monitor of his laptop.

"So much for keeping it secret," John muttered, and leaned against Rodney. He watched as one side of Rodney's mouth dipped. "Who told you?"

"Overheard it in the mess hall. You missed lunch." He lifted his hands off the keyboard and finally looked at John. "You should eat."

"Yes, Mother," John said, realizing he hadn't eaten since the news broke. "Radek's doing good work."

Rodney returned his attention to the computer. "Of course he is. He's my second in command; what else do you expect?"

"Can you take a break? Feel like a snack?"

Rodney immediately locked the computer. "I had them set aside a plate for you," he said, following John from the nearly empty lab. "Bread pudding for dessert, too."

John thought about making another joke, but he was tired and grateful so he just nodded. To his dismay, before they reached the mess, they found a small group of Athosians waiting for them, Halling among them. He and Rodney bowed their heads, then John looked up at Halling's grave face. "I'm so sorry," he said. "You know we're working hard to discover who did this."

"Of course," Halling said. "That is not why we're here. We trust you to do what's right, John. We ask you to attend a farewell ceremony for Zamanzah tomorrow."

John nodded. He couldn't think of anything he'd rather do less, but he'd go. "Where?"

"The south pier, when the sun first rises. Your presence would mean a great deal."

John could think of a hundred reasons why his presence shouldn't matter, but he only bowed his head again. As he and Rodney passed through the Athosians, hands patted their shoulders and arms. He was used to the gesture by now, but the pangs of guilt had never gone away.

"You all right?" Rodney asked quietly when they finally turned into a different corridor. John shrugged. Rodney put his hand on John's elbow; this touch was welcome, and John felt his shoulders drop and his muscles relax. "Hey, bread pudding with _plansa_ ," Rodney said, and he sounded genuinely happy.

Rodney looked like hell, John thought, when they met with the Athosians and most of the Atlanteans on the south pier at before dawn. He knew there would be leftover bread pudding for breakfast, but he also knew that neither he nor Rodney would be hungry after the ceremony. The pier was as crowded as John had imagined during his sleepless night, and he knew people were listening in from all over Atlantis, maybe from other worlds as well. To his surprise, neither Halling nor Teyla presided, but a small woman he didn't know. She was quite young, too young, he thought, but people looked younger all the time to him. He glanced at Rodney. Except for the ones who looked older.

The girl raised her hands and the quiet crowd fell into silence. "Someone took the life of a child," she said softly. John leaned forward a bit to hear better, and he felt Rodney leaned closer, warm at his side. "All life is precious; we know this. Even those who take life know this. That is why they take life, and why life is so valuable to them. And a child's life is more valuable because so much lies before her. Years of learning, of love, of families, of friends. Would Zamanzah have been a healer? A teacher? A leader? What has been lost from the universe now that she is gone?

"We will never know. But I ask you all to close your eyes and picture Zamanzah as you last saw her." She closed her own eyes; John kept his open, watching her and the others around him. "The last time I saw Zamanzah, she was playing _yesah_ with her friends." _Yesah_ was a counting game, John knew; he'd played it himself with the Athosian kids, for years now. He could see Zamanzah in his mind's eye, laughing as she counted.

"I saw her in class," Radek's daughter Maera said.

"She was reading _Le Petit Prince_ ," Esther Abramowitz said. John guessed she was Zamanzah's teacher. "Translating it into Ancient." She wiped her eyes.

"I saw her," Rodney said, surprising John. "She was racing with some other kids in the corridor off the desalinization equipment rooms." He tilted his head slightly. "She was pretty fast."

Others spoke, but John just watched Rodney, who peeked at him through one slitted eyelid, then opened his eyes when he saw John. "You okay?" John mouthed.

Rodney shrugged. "You?"

John shrugged, too, and felt Rodney press closer against him. He heard Rodney's stomach growl, and felt the beginning of a headache. How long would this go on?

When everyone who wanted to speak had, the young woman raised her hands again. "This is how Zamanzah lives," she said. "She lives in our memories, in our hearts, and in our words. Speak of her often. Bless her name. Remember her laughter. We are all Zamanzah and she is all of us. We are alone in the universe even as we are together. Don't let go," she said fiercely, looking around her. "Don't let go." John seized Rodney's hand. He wouldn't let go.

Then the young woman closed her eys, tilted her head back, and began to sing, an unearthly soprano of wordless hurt that pierced through John's body making him shiver. Zamanzah's parents wept, as did many, but the woman sang on, a cry of pain that made John's head throb harder.

He tugged at Rodney and they sidled through the crowd until John escaped indoors. Even inside he could still hear her voice, but he could breathe now, leaning against the warm walls of Atlantis. Rodney crouched next to him, and he realized he was on the floor, sweating and cold. "You're sick," Rodney said. "Can you walk to the infirmary?"

John thought about denying it, but he shivered, freezing even as sweat rolled down his throat and forehead. "Give me a minute," he said, his voice hoarse.

Rodney tapped his mic. "McKay to the infirmary. We need some help. Uh, out in S-44. Bring a gurney."

"Shit, Rodney," John said, but he didn't feel like arguing.

"Hey, John," Evan said. He knelt in front of them. "You don't look so good."

"You should be out there," John tried to say, but didn't have the breath. Rodney stroked his forehead, and Evan helped him lie down. "Zamanzah," he whispered, and closed his eyes. He felt Rodney's lips brush his cheek, and Evan's strong arm around his shoulders, then the sound of other approaching, from the infirmary no doubt. Everyone was quiet, not wanting to disturb the ceremony. He could still hear the woman's voice, vibrating in the walls and floors of Atlantis.

~ ~ ~

He woke up in the infirmary, his head still heavy and the muscles of his butt and thighs aching. "God," he tried to say, but his throat felt splintered.

"Hey, hey," Jennifer said. "Look who's awake."

"John," Rodney said, his face looming over John's. "You dumb ass."

"Now, now," Jennifer admonished him. "Don't be mean to the sick guy."

"What's wrong with me?" John asked. He knew Rodney too well to be annoyed with him; he always got irritable when he was scared.

"Flu," she said. "We think the Chhelans brought it in. Two of them are down with it, and Mary, and that handsome lieutenant, Casey."

"Mary the botanist or Mary the pastry chef?" Rodney asked.

"It's Marlene the botanist and Margaret the pastry chef but Mary the housekeeper," Jennifer said, winking at John.

"Now who's the dumb ass?" he whispered. Jennifer helped him sip water.

"Don't gulp," she said.

"Hey, let me." Rodney took the cup from her, and eased John up. "I'm already contaminated," he said to John. "You'll be taking care of me in no time."

"Bye, boys," Jennifer said, and slipped away with a flip of her ponytail.

John looked at Rodney, frowning down at him in concern, his hair sticking up in consternation. "You look like shit," Rodney said. John rolled his eyes, but that hurt, so he shut them and hmmed at Rodney, who stroked his forehead again. "Go back to sleep. Get your strength back so you can take care of me."

His eyes closed, John smiled.

The next time he woke, Rodney was wiping his neck and chest. "Shut up," Rodney said before John had a chance to speak. "you've got a temperature. Jennifer's down with it, too, so Caroline's back. Half my lab is sick."

"You?"

"He's fine," Caroline interrupted them. She stuck a thermometer in John's ear. "Too mean to get sick."

"Hey!"

She checked the thermometer. "Better. You keep improving and I'll let you out of here tomorrow."

"Promises, promises," John said, but he did feel better. Lighter, somehow. Rodney took his hand and squeezed it. "How are the others?"

Caroline looked down, and then back at John. "Two Athosian kids," she told him softly. "Three of the Chhelans. Sister Angela from Nteyo."

When she'd gone, Rodney straightened the sheets on John's bed. "Radek nearly died," he said, not meeting John's eyes. "Hela is still very sick."

"Evan?"

"He's okay, and so's Teyla. Caroline made them stay away after Jennifer got sick." Rodney fussed some more, finger-combing John's hair, retying the strings of his gown, patting John's chest. "Try not to worry. Ha," he added. "That's my job."

"Your job is to take care of me."

"Oh, I'm the wife?"

"What a sexist thing to say."

Rodney smiled at him, a sad smile, and then kissed his forehead. "We'll take turns," he murmured, but John knew he was distracted.

"Shit," John said, trying to sit up. "Zamanzah. What's happening?"

"Lie back, goddammit. Evan and Keras are working on it."

"Where's my radio -- call Evan. Rodney, call Evan for me or I'll find him myself." When Rodney still hesitated, John growled, "Meredith," but it hurt his throat.

"Fine, fine." He tapped his mic. "Evan? His Royal Idiot demands to see you." Rodney captured John's hands. "Yeah, that'd be good. He'll be here right away," he said to John.

Evan _was_ there right away. "You all right?" John asked him.

"Yeah. Got lucky. Radek came down with it pretty hard, though, so Bette Simpson's been helping us."

"Results?"

Evan glanced at Rodney, then back at John. "Nothing useful. We can't match the print to anyone on Atlantis. It's distinctive, too; there's a cut across the pad of the middle finger."

"Someone came to Atlantis to kill a little girl?" John asked incredulously. "That makes no sense."

"You're right; it doesn't," Evan said. "We did learn that Zamanzah's mother's sister has been seeing some guy from Ho'pui'ka, so we talked to him. His print doesn't match, either, but Keras and I both think there's something going on there."

"Ho'pui'ka?" Rodney asked.

"P3X-192," Evan and John said simultaneously.

"With all the sand," John added, and Rodney nodded, his cheeks turning pink in memory. "You're following up on that?"

"Of course. When Caroline gives us the all-clear, we'll go there, talk to people."

"Caroline is not giving the all clear for a few more days," Caroline said. John saw how tired she was. "And you, Evan, have been working too long. I'd like you to stand down for at least forty-eight hours. Let Eric Radner take care of business, or that nice Chuck. Now, go. Go on."

"Ho'pui'ka," Rodney said softly when the others had left. "I can't believe anyone there would hurt a child."

"We had some good times there," John said, closing his eyes.

"You're tired. Go back to sleep. I'm going to grab a bite to eat and then come back."

"Rodney, you should sleep in your own bed tonight," John said, opening his eyes again. Rodney looked almost as tired as Caroline.

"We'll talk later," was all Rodney would say. He kissed John and left, the room suddenly colder and emptier in his absence.

John sighed. He remembered the past few days in a blur of sweaty discomfort and embarrassment, with Rodney taking care of him in the most intimate of ways. He'd known that others were getting sick, but he hadn't realized how many until this morning.

"John?" He looked to up find Teyla hesitating. She, too, looked tired, but he couldn't help smiling at her and she smiled back brilliantly. "John," she said again, and hurried to embrace him. He awkwardly patted her back, breathing in her sweet scent of _asha_ flowers.

"You okay?" he asked when she'd released him.

"I am well. Caroline and Evan insisted I stay away."

"The kids?"

"Also well. As is Ronon, though he nursed Jennifer. She will be up in a few days, so Caroline will be able to rest. She and Miriam have worked so hard taking care of us all."

He held her hand, a little embarrassed but this was Teyla, his oldest friend in this galaxy -- really, in any galaxy. "I let you down. I let Zamanzah down."

"No, John," she exclaimed, her face creasing into a frown. "Evan has worked non-stop, as have Keras and Bette, and Radek before he fell ill. No one could do more."

"How are her parents?"

She sighed. "They have separated. Her mother has returned to her home world of Singivera. Her father remains here. Evan was concerned about letting Zamazish off Atlantis, but I permitted it. She did not kill her daughter. She wants to know who did; she will return."

"What about the guy from Ho'pui'ka? You know him?"

"A'a'te. No, but you know the Ho'pui'ka -- they are a gentle people. When Caroline permits off-world travel again, Evan and Keras will visit them." She squeezed his hands. "You should rest, dear friend. I do not believe you understand how ill you were."

"I'm sure Rodney will tell me."

"I will leave you. Rest, recover, and return to us." She rested her forehead against his; she felt cool and dry, her calm seeping into John.

"Yes, ma'am," he whispered, and gave her an old fashioned salute when she pulled away.

~ ~ ~

John found Atlantis eerily depleted when Caroline finally let Rodney take him home. "Caroline and Miriam called a strict quarantine between the sick and the well," he explained. "It worked. They did a good job, John. I think Teyla's going to arrange some kind of ceremony to thank them for their hard work."

Rodney got him settled in bed; John was disgusted to have to wipe sweat off his forehead, and at how his legs trembled. "Fuck this," he said.

"How long had you felt bad before you collapsed?"

"I didn't collapse."

"Moron. I caught you. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't want to argue, Rodney."

Rodney prodded another pillow under John's head, and handed him a container of _erif_ juice. "Drink. I'm the cranky one so I'll argue for both of us." The door chimed. "Shit," Rodney said, but he waved it open.

"Hey," Evan said. "Sorry to bother you." Keras and Bette stood behind him.

John struggled to sit up a bit more, pushing Rodney away. "Yeah, come in, what's up?"

Keras said, "Are you well?"

"Gettin' there," John said. "Mostly I'm curious why you're here."

Evan put his hand on Keras' arm. "A'a'te is missing. We got clearance from Caroline and Teyla, so we're heading out tonight. It's midday on Ho'pui'ka, so we want to get there and ask some questions."

"The boyfriend? You think he did it?" John asked. He felt a sudden flush, a prickly feeling of heat on his skin. He drank the _erif_ juice before Rodney yelled at him.

"Why would he flee?" Keras asked. He crossed his arms and looked as fierce as Ronon and nearly as tall.

"We don't know why he disappeared, only that he did," Bette said, and John saw it was an argument that had been going on for a while. Keras and Bette stared at each other until Evan nudged both of them.

"Okay, if Caroline and Teyla gave the okay, go. Stay in touch. I'll have my radio on." Rodney rolled his eyes and huffed, but remained silent. "Take backup," John added.

Evan nodded and said, "Alonso and Stevie are coming."

"Also my brother Velox," Keras said. John nodded, satisfied; they were all big guys and smart.

"Come back safely," Rodney said, his voice rough. John knew that Rodney wanted to be out looking for A'a'te as much as he did.

"Good luck," John added. Evan came to him and bent over, first resting his hands on John's shoulders and then his forehead on John's. They breathed together for a moment, and then he left, Keras and Bette following. Rodney sat on the bed at John's knees. "Getting old is hell, hey, buddy?" John said to him. Rodney's mouth quirked but he said nothing.

~ ~ ~

"How?" John asked Evan at the next staff meeting.

Evan shook his head. "It was ugly."

"Exsanguinated," Bette said.

"Blood everywhere," Keras added. He looked severe, and a little ill. "A'a'te did not deserve such a death."

Teyla shifted subtly in her chair and everyone turned to look at her. "Rumors of similar deaths are coming in from other worlds," she said, and turned to Chuck at her left.

"Yes, ma'am. Dale was working on P9X-498, helping harvest the _ula_ nuts. He called in a report that a little girl had disappeared, and then was found outside the village, in a storage barn. Same as Zamanzah. And yesterday Charlie and Elle reported in from P5B-227 that another little girl was missing. They still haven't found her."

"So it wasn't A'a'te," Evan said firmly. "But A'a'te's friend Ui'ka is missing."

"He was not well liked," Keras said. "Zamanzah's aunt, Zamima, told us that she broke up with A'a'te because of Ui'ka."

"So you contend that Ui'ka killed these children?" Teyla asked.

"And A'a'te," Evan said. "And who knows how many other kids on worlds we haven't heard from yet."

"This is your call, Teyla," John said.

"It is," she agreed, " and I will meditate on it. But first I must meet with Zamanzah's family. Evan and Keras, you will accompany me."

"Yes, ma'am," Evan said, looking at John, who nodded at him. Everyone stood when Teyla rose, and Evan and Keras followed her out the door and down the corridor.

In a few minutes, only John and Rodney remained at the table. "Ugly thing," Rodney said as he always did, tapping at one of the table's many protrusions. "We should replace it."

"Too much tradition," John said, but he agreed. It was an ugly table, nothing like what Teyla deserved to preside over. "So much has happened here."

"That's true," Rodney said. "And now here's more. You going to recommend some kind of control about who visits the City?"

John leaned back in his chair. "You really think Teyla would let me? Besides, how do we know who's a serial killer? The database gonna tell us?"

"Atlantis should," Rodney said, and again John agreed with Rodney. But Atlantis wouldn't; that's not how the City worked. "Well, I have things to do." Rodney pushed away from the table, careful not to bruise his thigh against the protrusion he'd tapped. "Coming?"

"Yeah. It's on the way to my office." It was no such thing, but it was an old habit now, no longer a joke, just the way they wound their way through the City.

The corridors were full of people again, from the worlds they traded with and worked with and married with. They met Jennifer and Ronon returning from the jumper bay; they'd spent the last few days on Engrbaar, where many of the New Athosians lived. Their son had moved there in his teens but they visited weekly; Jennifer ran a clinic and Ronon taught his son to hunt in the Satedan way. "Those Athosians," he said, shaking his head. "Too much meditation."

"It's good for him," Jennifer said, and they split off toward their quarters, Ronon grumbling amiably about his son's tendency to take off.

"Like father, like son," Rodney said as he always did, and John agreed with him, as he always did. "Wait," Rodney said, and pulled John into a side corridor that ran to the pier where the small Atlantean navy was docked. "Just a small detour," he said, and John smiled. They passed through the enormous gates, big enough to sail one of their ships through if the water would rise high enough, and outdoors into a freshening breeze slapping the water against the pier, the smaller boats bobbing.

Rodney led them to _The Elizabeth_ , a jolly boat attached to _Greater Atlantis_ but used primarily by Rodney and John. "I thought you had things to do," John said dryly.

Rodney raised an eyebrow at him. "I do," he said. "So do you." He stepped onto the boat.

"Permission to come aboard?" John asked.

Rodney tugged at him until he nearly tumbled into Rodney's arms. "Permission to come," he said into John's mouth. They stood in the stern of _The Elizabeth_ , the breeze rocking them, the air as sweet as freedom. Rodney's arms were warm around John; he was rarely really warm anymore, ever since he got so sick with the Chhelan flu, but Rodney was a furnace and always willing to share his heat. Rodney nuzzled John's ear, tickling him, and then kissed a necklace of kisses around John's throat. "What you do to me," he whispered.

John rested his head on Rodney's shoulder and stared out to sea. One of the moons was visible, a delicate lavender sliver in the blue of the sky. "Been too long," he whispered, and Rodney nodded.

"Just what I was thinking." They stood on the deck a minute more, but John shivered and Rodney led him below deck to their summer quarters. A big wooden bed nearly filled the small room and the windows were open, the dark curtains floating in the air. Rodney pushed John onto the bed, then kneed his way across it to shut the windows. He turned back to John.

"Come here," John whispered, spread an arm toward Rodney, who lay next to John, one hand on John's stomach, smoothing down over his belt and then pressing into John's erection. John lifted his hips and groaned, and kissed Rodney. "I missed you."

"I'm right here," Rodney said, and shrugged off his jacket and kicked off his shoes. He began to undress John.

John spread his arms and legs, smiling up at Rodney. "Fuck me?" he asked.

Rodney unzipped John's trousers. "Count on it," he said, "just, could you help?" John only lay there and laughed, and let Rodney do the work.

~ ~ ~

"Papi, look," Maera said, pointing from their balcony. Radek looked up from his lunch to see John and Rodney kissing on the deck of _The Elizabeth_.

He shook his head. "Eat your lunch," he told his daughter. "What will Mami say if you don't?"

Maera shrugged. "Can we tell her about Uncle John and Uncle Rodney?"

"Of course. That would make her happy."

Maera slurped her _kaszb_ soup; she loved it, as did Radek, with the fresh bread from the Atlantis kitchens. He dunked a thick piece of the bread into the soup, stomach growling with anticipation. "When will Mami be home?" she asked through a mouthful of bread.

"Soon," he promised. "She said she'd have lunch with us."

"I am here," Teyla said, and bent over to kiss first Radek and then Maera. "Where are Charin and Kate?"

"Charin is on the mainland; she flew over with Ronon and Jennifer. Kate is playing _teinin_ , working with her coach," Radek told her. "Now sit, sit. Let me bring you lunch."

"Radek, I can get my own meal."

"Yes, _milofscha_ ," Radek said, using the Old Athosian word he knew Teyla loved. "But it would make me happy to do this for you."

"Let me help, Papi," Maera said, slipping down from her chair. "I want to help Mami, too."

"See?" Radek told Teyla, sliding his arms around her shoulders to kiss her. "You work too much, too long, too hard. Let us care for you." He sliced the bread and put it on a plate for Maera to carry to her mother. "Tell Mami what you saw," he told her.

"Here, Mami." Radek brought a bowl of soup for Teyla and helped Maera back up into her chair. "We saw Uncle John and Uncle Rodney in their boat."

Teyla looked at Radek and smiled. "See," he said to Maera, "I told you that would make her happy."

"Me, too," Maera said contentedly. "Is there honey for the bread?"

Teyla put her hand on Maera's head, brushing the hair from her eyes, and her other hand on Radek's arm. "I am blessed to have my family safe and around me," she said, and Radek knew she was thinking of Zamanzah, and of so many others they'd lost in their years on New Atlantis in this new world.

Radek nodded, and squeezed her hand. He knew he had never been Teyla's first choice, but he loved Charin as if she were his own daughter, and he felt only gratitude that Teyla had turned to him. They had both lost so much so suddenly; they were still losing people they loved.

"How are Zamanzah's family?" he asked too quietly for Maera to hear.

"Her mother returned." Radek knew how much it had pained Teyla when Zamazish had left. "There is much pain, but they rediscovered their love. They did not need to know about Ui'ka to do so."

"What will happen to Ui'ka when you find him?"

"The Ho'pui'ka will decide. Zamanzah's family agrees it is best for his people to determine his fate."

"I hope they throw him into a volcano," Radek muttered, hoping Maera didn't hear.

"As do I," Teyla whispered, and kissed his cheek.

Radek still mourned the loss of Elizabeth, but with Teyla next to him, holding his arm and kissing him, and their daughter humming to herself across the table, he regretted nothing. "Despite everything, this is a good life," he said to Teyla, half asking her to agree with him.

"A good life," she concurred, smiling at him. "Now finish your soup."

**Author's Note:**

>  _There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning._  
>  \--Thornton Wilder


End file.
